Records Retention and Destruction Policy – B0005

BOARD COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS POLICY:

Administrative Committee

PURPOSE:
The corporate records of Tri-Counties Association for the Developmentally Disabled, Inc., d.b.a. Tri-Counties Regional Center (“TCRC”) and its branches and operating units (hereafter “TCRC”) are important assets. The purpose of this policy is to establish retention and destruction policies and schedules for specific categories of records in order to ensure legal compliance, and to accomplish other objectives, such as preserving intellectual property and cost management.

POLICY:

1. Definitions

1. Corporate records include all records prepared, owned, used, or retained as a member of the board or an employee, whether paper or electronic, including specifically the categories of records identified in section 2, subsections a through i below.
2. Record a “record” is defined as “any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristics” (GOV § 7920.530). A record may be as obvious as a memorandum, an e-mail, a contract or a case study, or something not as obvious, such as a computerized desk calendar, an appointment book or an expense record. Materials may be referential and considered as non-records when used as references in the creation of official records as defined above.
3. Public Records are defined by the CPRA and includes any writing that contains information related to the conduct of the people’s business prepared, owned, used or retained by TCRC regardless of physical form or characteristics, and regardless of whether created or transmitted on or by a TCRC-owned device.

2. Maintenance of Records

In contract with DDS, TCRC is required to maintain certain types of corporate records, usually for a specified period of time. Failure to retain those records for those minimum periods could subject a member of the board or an employee and TCRC to penalties and fines, cause the loss of rights, obstruct justice, spoil potential evidence in a lawsuit, place TCRC in contempt of court, or seriously disadvantage TCRC in litigation.

In compliance with TCRC’s contract with DDS, TCRC shall maintain records under this contract in accordance with mutually agreed to procedures and generally accepted accounting principles.

Several categories of records that bear special consideration are identified below. While minimum retention periods are suggested, the retention of the records identified below and of records not included in the identified categories should be determined primarily by the application of the general guidelines affecting records retention identified above, as well as any other pertinent factors.

1. Financial Records. Financial records include, but may not be limited to, documents concerning payroll, expenses, revenues, books of account, general ledgers, subsidiary ledgers, check registers, canceled checks, financial statements, internal reports, bank statements, tax filings, audits, purchase of service authorizations, operations purchase orders, invoices, invoice documentation, insurance polices, accounting procedures and related correspondence. Financial records should be retained for at least seven (7) years from the end of the applicable fiscal year.
2. Persons Served Records. Includes documents evidencing the provision of services to persons with developmental disabilities. Persons served files must be maintained for at least seven (7) years after the case was closed, unless the person served is a minor; then the file may not be destroyed until the later of seven (7) years or the person’s 19th birthday. TCRC shall retain records which pertain to eligibility determinations and redeterminations for the Medicaid Waiver Program for a minimum of five (5) years from the date of an eligibility determination or redetermination.
3. Employment Records/Personnel Records. State and federal statutes require TCRC to keep certain recruitment, employment and personnel information. TCRC shall keep personnel files that reflect performance reviews and any complaints brought against TCRC or individual employees under applicable state and federal statutes. TCRC should also keep all final memoranda and correspondence reflecting performance reviews and actions taken by or against personnel in the employee’s personnel file. Employment and personnel records should be retained for at least seven (7) years, except that Employment Eligibility Forms Verification (I-9 Forms) must be kept until the later of three (3) years from hire date, or one (1) year after termination; Workers Compensation files must be kept until the latest of the following dates: five (5) years from the date of injury or one (1) year from the date compensation was last provided or when all compensation due has been paid; Chemical safety and toxic exposure records must be kept for the duration of employment, plus thirty (30) years.
4. Board and Board Committee Materials. Meeting minutes should be retained in perpetuity in the TCRC’s minute book. A clean copy of all Board and Board Committee materials should be kept for no less than three (3) years by TCRC. TCRC shall maintain all recordings and written comments submitted as testimony on agenda items for no less than two years (WIC § 4661 (b)).
5. Corporate Documents. Corporate Articles of Incorporation, IRS Determination Letter, Tax Exempt Application (Form 1023), Bylaws and the like, including 3 638110.1 amendments, shall be retained in perpetuity (and also readily available for public disclosure).
6. Press Releases/Public Filings. TCRC should retain permanent copies of all press releases and publicly filed documents under the theory that TCRC should have its own copy to test the accuracy of any document a member of the public can theoretically produce against TCRC.
7. Legal Files. Legal counsel should be consulted to determine the retention period of particular documents, but legal documents should generally be maintained for a period of ten (10) years.
8. Development/Intellectual Property and Trade Secrets. Development documents are often subject to intellectual property protection in their final form (e.g., patents and copyrights). The documents detailing the development process are often also of value to TCRC and are protected as a trade secret where TCRC:

(i) derives independent economic value from the secrecy of the information, and the information not being generally know to the public or to other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use; and

(ii) TCRC has taken affirmative steps to keep the information confidential.

The TCRC should keep all documents designated as containing trade secret information for at least the life of the trade secret.

9. Contracts and Agreements. Final, execution copies of all contracts entered into by TCRC should be retained. TCRC should retain copies of the final contracts for at least three (3) years beyond the life of the agreement, and longer in the case of publicly filed contracts.

3. Storage of Records

All records are maintained at TCRC in secure, encrypted locations, digitally or physically. At the discretion of the Department Director, records may be sent to an off-site storage location operated by a provider under contract with TCRC. Records are sent to or retrieved from offsite storage by the Department support staff using a process developed by the provider.

In compliance with TCRC’s contract with DDS, TCRC shall comply with the most current version of the State’s ‘Requirements for Electronic Storage of Records’ as developed by the State and ARCA.

4. Retrieval of Records

All records and files shall be retrieved and returned under the supervision of the Executive Director or his/her designee. No one shall enter the off-site storage locations without the written permission of the Executive Director or his/her designee.

5. Destruction

All records to be destroyed shall be disposed of in a secure process. The department wishing to destroy records shall prepare the Authority to Destroy Obsolete Records Form (See Attachment A). Authority to destroy records is as follows: for persons served records, the Director of Services & Supports; for service provider records, the Director of Community Development; for financial records, the Chief Financial Officer; for employment records, the Director of Human Resources, and for all other records either the Executive Director or his/her designee.

The Executive Director or his/her designee will prepare and maintain a permanent record of all destroyed documents, such as a log or copies of certificates of destruction, in whatever format he/she determines to be convenient for the purpose. The permanent record will include titles or brief descriptions of the documents that were destroyed, and the date of destruction. See Attachment B.

6. Compliance

TCRC expects all board members and employees to fully comply with any published records retention or destruction policies and schedules. If a board member or employee believes, or TCRC informs them, that TCRC records are relevant to litigation, or potential litigation (i.e., a dispute that could result in litigation), then these records must be preserved until the Executive Director or his/her designee determines the records are no longer needed. That exception supersedes any previously or subsequently established destruction schedule for those records. If a person believes that an exception may apply, or has questions regarding the possible applicability of that exception, please contact the Executive Assistant to the Executive Director.

If any paragraph, sentence, clause, or phrase of this Policy is held unlawful or invalid for any reason, said unlawfulness or invalidity shall not affect the remaining portions of this Policy.

Failure to comply with this Records Retention Policy may result in punitive action against the employee, including suspension or termination. Questions about this policy should be referred to the Chief Information Officer, who is in charge of administering, enforcing and updating this policy.

Approvals:

• 2025 09 05: TCADD Board
• 2009 06 06: First Approved

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• Attachment A: Authority to Destroy Obsolete Records Form

• Attachment B: Certificate of Destruction Form